Paopu Fruit
by Viidoll
Summary: Fic status: abandoned. Riku x Sora shounen ai - Pre-CoM. It's been a while since Sora sealed the door, and pulled Riku out of the darkness. They returned to Destiny Island, but the people there hate Riku. How will the two deal with it?
1. Surprise

Disclaimer:........................do I look like Squaresoft? Or Disney? No, didn't think so.  
  
WARNING: Shouenen ai, Riku x Sora. Yeah. You don't like it, tough.  
  
Authoress's Notes: Oh my God! The world is coming to an end. It isn't a Yu Yu Hakusho ficcie. I am scared and must die.  
*dies* Swissy says hi, he'll see you at the end. And threaten you. Watch, he'll threaten you with a spoon. He'll do it.  
You just watch. And in this ficcie, there will be spoilers, and in this story, Riku stepped through the door.  
  
:::Paopu Fruit:::  
Chapter One  
  
He was surprised at first, when he was thrown to. Catching the fruit, he heard laughing, from one voice. Looking up,  
he saw Riku, who began to light-heartedly tease him.  
  
He was more surprised when Riku, the next day, raced him to share a paopu with Kairi. Sora had raced hard, determined  
to win so that Riku couldn't be tied to Kairi for life. Sora wanted Riku to be tied to him for life. And so, he tried  
to win the race. Riku was the one that was surprised when Sora won.  
  
Then Riku told him it was just a joke. Sora was relieved.  
  
Then when Kairi wanted just the two of them to go, he was disgusted. How could she even think of somehting like that?  
He had known Riku far longer than she had and would never leave his best friend behind. Never.  
  
And then, he was taken away. Riku was stolen away from Sora by the darkness and Maleficent and Ansem. But still, Riku searched for Kairi.  
  
It was so clear, so apparent, even when the Door was closing. "Take care of her," he had said.  
  
"If you want her taken care of," Sora had responded. "Take care of her yourself."  
  
And Sora had grabbed that hand that had constantly reached out to him, and pulled Riku int the light. And together, they closed the door. Together, they returned to Destiny Island. Together, they had saved the world.  
  
Sora, back home, was treated like a hero. But Riku wasn't. When they returned home, together, Riku was glared at in   
disgust. They viewed him as a traitor. Wakka eventually got over it, and Selphie was too cheerful to hold a grudge for   
long. Tidus wanted Riku to train him in the art of fighting, andovercoming darkness. But the adults were cruel and spite-  
ful to him, saying nasty comments to his face or behind his back.  
  
He dismissed it when Sora brought it up, saying it was to be expected. He had, after all, gone to the darkness. It was, after all, his fault.  
  
"But you changed!" Sora argued. "You're a hero! You saved us in the end, and held back Ansem so he couldn't kill me and Kairi! You are a hero as much as I am!"  
  
But Riku just smirked. "Not quite, Sora."  
  
Sora argued some more, but Riku just shrugged it off, and went to their cave, Sora slowly following behind.  
  
When they were safely alone, Riku began to explain. Brushing his silver hair behind his ear, he spoke. "Sora, no one will forgive me from destroying all those worlds and capturing all those princesses of heart. Because I sided with the darkness  
and destroyed so many lives, I am forsaken."  
  
"Not to me," Sora said. "You were too worried about me and Kairi that you didn't notice it sneak up on you."  
  
Riku sighed. "Sora, I hurt you."  
  
He shrugged. "I'm fine."  
  
"Have you seen the way Kairi looks at me?" Riku said. "She hates me now, and she was like a sister to me, before I allowed  
myself to be taken over."  
  
"Like a sister?" Sora asked. But I thought...  
  
"I'm surprised that you can stand looking at me, Sora, let alone be around me and joke with me like the old times."  
  
"It is like the old times. People make mistakes."  
  
"Not like me."  
  
"You couldn't help it."  
  
Riku slammed his fist into the ground. "Yes I could! I was just too busy being wrapped up in your fake betrayal that I   
was the betrayer!"  
  
"Maleficent used your own feelings against you. I can't do the same and hold them against you. Riku," Sora added. "You're  
my best friend, and I won't let a little darkness stand in the way of that."  
  
Riku scoffed. "A little darkness?"  
  
"Yes, a little darkness. Ansem was much worse than you, darkness related."  
  
"Yeah, but without me, Ansem would have never been able to revive."  
  
Sora was speechless at that.  
  
"You see now?" Riku asked. "I'm not worth your friendship."  
  
"Yes you are!!" Sora argued, jumping to his feet.  
  
Riku shook his head. "Sora, you don't understand."  
  
"Yes I do," Sora said quietly. "I've been hated by a lot of people too Riku."  
  
"Not like me. You've been hated by dark because of your light. I've been hated-"  
  
"By the light because of your dark," Sora finished, cutting Riku off. "I know, Riku, I know."  
  
"No, you don't!" Riku shouted. "You don't know what it's like, hurting your best friend without control whatsoever over yourself!"  
  
"But, Riku--"  
  
"Sora, stop!" Riku said, and ran out of the secret cave. Sora ran after him, into the light of day, but could not see  
him anywhere.  
  
I may have grown stronger than him, Sora thought to himself, but that doesn't make me faster.  
  
"Sora!" He heard.  
  
Oh no, he thought, why now? I've got to find Riku...  
  
"Hey Kairi," he said anyway, turning his head in the direction of the falls.  
  
She ran up to him, and grabbed his arm. "Have you been talking to Riku again?"  
  
"Yeah, so what? He's my best friend."  
  
She shook her head. "Your mom told you not to talk to him. All our parents are planning to get rid of him."  
  
"What!?" He shouted. "That's not fair! Riku helped me save-!"  
  
"The end doesn't justify the means, Sora."  
  
He looked at her with a scrunched up nose. "I can't believe you Kairi. You hated him from the beginning, haven't you?  
When you wanted just you and me to sail without him."  
  
She didn't let go of his arm. "I don't want you talking to him."  
  
He wrenched his arm from her grip. "You have no rule over my life, Kairi!"  
  
"They're gonna hate you just as much as they hate him, Sora, if you keep on with this," She said, looking up at him.  
  
"I don't care, Kairi. I love Riku, like a-" He realized what he said. "Like a brother."  
  
Now it was her turn to look on with disgust. "You love him?"  
  
Sora nodded.  
  
"Sora, what do you think you're doing!?" She shouted. "I wouldn't care if you were...like that, but Riku!? C'mon Sora,  
he's changed from bad to worse!"  
  
The Keyblade master stared at her. "You're the one who's changed to worse. You're disgusting. Riku used to be your friend  
as much as mine. He ignored the darkness to find YOU, Kairi!"  
  
"Well he should have been paying attention!"  
  
"You're disgusting Kairi. It seems the darkness has affected you more than him."  
  
"Don't put me on his level."  
  
"You're below him Kairi, a whole new level," Sora dissed. "Right down there with the adults."  
  
She stared at him sadly.  
  
"Don't give me that look. That's the look Riku saw when he tried to save you."  
  
She stared after him as he completely blew her off and walked away, in the direction he thought he might find Riku.  
  
It was then he noticed that the wind seemed too calm. The kind of calm before a storm. He sighed, knowing he had to find  
Riku soon. Fast.  
  
He took off, trying the second best place, because Riku ran from the secret cave.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Oh dear. I'm mean. I'm very mean. So, uh...that's the first chapter. Ciu Sune, you reading this? I dunno if you're  
interested in Kingdom Hearts, but who knows?  
  
Swissy: For those of you who don't know, I'm the peice of Swiss cheese that is Hieica's muse and review-threatener. So,  
review or I'll gauge out your insides with a spoon.  
  
Hieica: I TOLD YOU!!! OH YEAH!!! I told you he'd threaten you with a spoon!! I win! 


	2. Ocean of Sorrow

Authoress's Notes: First of all, NO. There will be no "sexing". I'm only thirteen, people. How can you safely ask that  
when you don't know how old the author is? And if they were, it would have been rated R. People can be so stupid. And  
I'm not referring to everybody, basically just one person, who reviewed asking if I would do a hentai. No, I will not.  
That's why I put shounen ai. If there was sex, I would have put yaoi, because that's sex-based. I ONLY DO SHOUNEN AI.   
NOT YAOI. With that done, I kindly thank EVERYBODY ELSE for reviewing. I hadn't expected so many reviews for one chapter.  
  
:::Paopu Fruit:::  
Chapter Two  
  
The wind came suddenly and unexpectedly. Almost bowling poor Sora over, the brown-haired hero continued his desperate  
search for his paining best friend, with an upcoming storm. Sora went to search the place where he first saw him in  
the beginning of his adventure; to the sea.  
  
Sure enough, he saw a lone silhoutte, standing waist-deep in the roughening ocean waters.  
  
"Riku!!" He cried.  
  
The silver-headed figure turned, and extended his hand.  
  
Not this again, Sora thought. He plunged himself into the waters, seeing the all too familiar wave rise in back of  
Riku. He grasped his friend's hand, but it was too late. The sheer force of the wave crashign down upon them wrenched  
them from eachother, dragging both of them under and into the deep waters. The light in Sora's heart was suffocating,  
and the darkness of the sea overcame him.  
  
He awoke to the waters slowly dragging at his feet. He was lying on the sand up by the wooden wall during high tide.  
A trail through the sand showed that he was dragged out. But where was Riku?  
  
Propping himself on his hands and knees, Sora desperately searched around the beach, seeing no evidence that Riku  
had been there other than the trail of Sora's body, which was almost gone, so it was enough to look like the high  
tide dragged him up. Standing up, he shook the sand off of himself and out of his hair, turning to see the sunset.  
  
It was exactly like the sunset when Riku had thrown him that paopu fruit. The star shaped fruit that could have con-  
nected them together forever.  
  
But, if Riku was...  
  
No, Sora fiercely shook his head, small grains of sand shaking out of his hair. No, he wouldn't think of his best  
friend as dead. Sora went as fast as his weak legs could carry him and walked through the dark tunnel to the secret   
cave. He had been hoping against all hope that his silver-haired friend hadn't drowned. Because he had been dragged   
out of the water, Sora knew that it had been Riku.  
  
He stumbled and wished for his friend's shoulder to lean on. He kept stumbling and falling until he reached his house.  
He would have to keep looking tomorrow. His mom knocked on his door. "Sora, honey?"  
  
"Go away mom," he said, and sprawled out on his bed.  
  
The next day, he recieved glares from almost everybody. Tidus, even Selphie turned away from him with a sad gaze. But  
he didn't care at the moment. He had to find Riku.  
  
He had passed Kairi a few times, but he was too concentrated to notice the looks she gave him. These looks of smug  
satisfaction.  
  
That day, too, ended in a failure. Going upstairs quietly, Sora avoided confrontation with his mother once again. He  
would never forgive her, or anybody else, because of the plot against Riku.  
  
A week passed, and Sora still searched. He would never give up, because he had finally found him last time, and he was  
sure he would find him again this time. He didn't notice that the only person who spoke his name was his mom, whom he  
completely ignored.  
  
It was two weeks after that that Riku was reported missing. They immediately assumed he was dead. The priest had the  
nerve to get up in front of everybody on the island to say, "The sea took what we would have given it anyway."  
  
Sora officially stopped speaking with him. One day, to avoid seeing his mom, Sora tried to race up the stairs. A hand  
shot out and gripped his arm in a death grip.  
  
"Sora, stop avoiding me. We have to talk."  
  
"No mom."  
  
"Yes!" she shouted.  
  
He stared at her in bewilderment.  
  
Sitting in the dining room, his mother tapped her fingers against the hardwood table.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You have to stop looking for Riku. He's dead, and well worth it too."  
  
He gave her a fierce glare. "Mom, you don't know what you're talking about! You and I have both known Riku since...  
well, ever! He's my best friend, and I refuse to think of him as dead."  
  
She shook her head. "Yes, we've both known him for an extremely long time, but one mistake can change everything."  
  
"Oh, as if you hadn't made mistakes?"  
  
"Not ones that cost millions of people their lives."  
  
"Mom, he's a human, just like all of us."  
  
She shook her head again. "No, he's not. Don't compare him to us. He was lowly, disgusting, a disgrace-"  
  
Sora couldn't take it. He didn't need to hear his mom badmouthing his best friend. "Mom, you're the disgusting one!  
Riku is a hero, just like me! He may be better than me! People here just can't forgive him? He helped restore us!"  
  
Before his mom could say more, he ran up to his room, locked the door, and opened his window, climbing out. Dropping  
to his feet, he ran as far as he could, and found himself unconciously running to that one place. Breathing heavilly,  
he collapsed onto the floor. Leaning against the cool stone, he hugged his knees to his chest. Nights here were cold.  
  
Would he freeze for the sake of Riku? If that's what it took, than yes. When they thought to search for him here,  
he would already be dead, and they would regret ever mistreating Riku.  
  
His breathing came as a cloud of warm air hitting cold air. Tears trailed down his cheek, leaving lines where the cold  
air quickly dried the wet spots. Silent sobs shook his shoulders, and he couldn't help but still love his mother. She  
had been wonderful to him, as she always had, because she gave birth to him, but then...  
  
Ansem had to ruin his whole life, didn't he?  
  
Chuckling dryly, Sora could imagine it. The main reason Ansem wanted to conquer the world was to destroy Sora's fine  
life.  
  
Shivering from the cold, Sora pushed himself closer to the wall, where warmth could still be salvaged. He wished he   
had at least grabbed a heavier jacket.  
  
But it couldn't be helped. Sora would freeze to death, and if Riku really was dead, he would join him wherever he was.  
  
Now, would Riku have liked that attitude? Riku had always told him to stay positive, no matter what kind of sorrow  
dragged him under the ocean of depression. If he stayed positive, then he could rise to the surface for a great big  
gulp of air.  
  
Shivering once more, Sora sneezed.  
  
"Bless you," he heard.  
  
Sora felt two strong, and thankfully warm arms wrap around him. Someone pulled him close, and Sora was so happy to  
be in that warm embrace.  
  
____________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Bleh. I'm mean. Yeah? Yeah. Sorry for the Kairi-bashing, but in all honesty, I HATE her!! Why couldn't she  
just DIE!? She had NO right WHATSOEVER to want to leave Riku behind. GOD!! *dies from the hate*  
  
Swissy: Hey, review, or I'll sick Culinary's *shudders* cheese grater on you! HA! How do you feel now!? 


	3. Always Make Promises you can Keep

Authoress' Notes: Hey! What's up? ^.^ Yeah, I dunno. Hi. You do realize I'm just typing random stuff to fill space?  
Yeah, I realized that too. What, you got a problem with that? HUH? YOU GOT A FREAKIN' PROBLEM!? No, I didn't think   
so. ^.^ So, I'll leave you now, to read on in my crappy mccrap crap ficcie. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *:::Paopu Fruit:::* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Chapter Three* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
The Keyblade Master lay his head on his friend's shoulder while they had their arms around each other to stay warm.  
Sora closed his eyes in comfort, aware of the long fingers entwining in his hair.  
  
"Where were you..."He whispered. "Where were you, Riku?"  
  
The taller just shook his head, a comfortable silence was all that he answered.  
  
"I was looking all over for you..."  
  
There was another silence until Riku said, "I know, Sora."  
  
"But where were you?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Sora, if I made you worry and everybody hate you. I'm sorry that I had to come along and ruin your life.  
You would have been much better off without me."  
  
"Riku...you are the one who's made my life so great..."  
  
The silver haired boy shot him a questioning glance.  
  
"Yeah! Without you, I would have been bored out of my mind," Sora said with an ear-to-ear grin.  
  
Riku gave a slight smile at that. "I guess it's mutual then."  
  
Turning to more serious matters, Sora was still smiling warmly on the inside. Riku was alive. "Do you know about the   
plot against you?"  
  
Riku nodded. "I've known about it far longer than you, Sora. I had to get away, and the whole 'being swallowed by the  
ocean' really worked to my advantage, though I was worried to death about you."  
  
"See, Riku? You care."  
  
The silverheaded teen looked up with surprise in his Mako-esque eyes.  
  
"Yup! You do care, I know you do!" Sora said, satisfied with himself because he was breaking through Riku's barriers.  
"You wouldn't have been able to come back without that care."  
  
"..." Riku verted his eyes towards the cold, hard ground.  
  
"C'mon, Riku, can you for once just trust me on this?" Sora asked, his deep blue eyes inquiring.  
  
"How can I trust you, Sora, if I can't even trust myself...?"  
  
"You can, and you will. I know it," Sora kept on strong. "You're my best friend, and nothing will stand in the way of   
that."  
  
Riku reluctantly looked up with a small smile. "Well, it seems some things can be mutual, hm?"  
  
Sora nodded, the biggest smile he ever wore spread across his face, and that is pretty big, because Sora has worn smiles  
bigger than any known to man, with the genuine happiness included in the package. He was just so happy that Riku hadn't  
left him there.  
  
"Riku, will you promise not to leave me?" Sora asked him, innocently, as though he was a child.  
  
Once again shocked eyes found their place on him. "Why would you want me to promise something like that?"  
  
"Because you're better than you think you are. You give yourself no credit at all. That's a lot less than you deserve."  
  
"I belittle myself? Think no more of that, Sora. The question is what will you do now? You ran away. From your mother,  
your friends, and, most importantly, your life. What are you going to do?"  
  
Sora blinked. He hadn't thought about that. In fact, he hadn't thought about much else than Riku the whole time the  
taller Keyblade holder had been gone. Sora had never had that kind of determination before. This is what Riku did to   
him, every time he walked by. He gave Sora more confidence in himself.  
  
"I don't really know what I'm going to do..." Sora finally admitted.  
  
"Hm..." Riku began to think deeply.  
  
Then, an idea went off in Sora's mind, as though a light bulb was turned on. "I'll go with you!" He exclaimed sud-  
denly and abruptly enough for Riku to jump.  
  
"How did you know I was leaving...?"  
  
"I know you too well, Riku. If you were unwanted, you would leave. Though, I do wonder why you didn't already..."  
  
To that, Riku did not answer.  
  
"Will you tell me?"  
  
"..." Riku sighed. "Another time."  
  
Sora huffed.  
  
"And you can't come with me."  
  
"WHAT!?" Sora shouted, shooting out of Riku's arms. "Why not!?"  
  
"You still have a chance here, Sora. You can still reconstruct your life here. It's for your own good."  
  
"I don't WANT to reconstruct my life here!" Sora shouted with extreme ferocity. "I hate this stupid island, and  
everybody on it! I want to leave here with you!"  
  
Riku was surprised for the umpteenth time by Sora. "But, Sora, I-"  
  
"No!" Sora said. "It's final! I'm going with you. Got it?"  
  
It seemed saving the world caused his level of willfulness to raise quite a bit. Defeated, Riku just nodded his head  
slightly. It seemed even he couldn't beat Sora's stubborn personality. Quite surprising.  
  
With a triumphant grin, Sora sat down by Riku again. "And, just so you know, Riku..."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"It's not death that is hard to deal with, it's living that is the hardest thing," Sora said out of nowhere.  
  
But Riku understood what he meant. Riku couldn't escape from his vile exploits, couldn't escape and flee from his past,  
but he could strive onward with his head held high, and not let his guilt overcome him.  
  
Sora could be very smart at times. Even in a non-making-sense kind of way.  
  
His words hit home, and Riku's heart seemed to leap up. Riku realized that's all he had been doing, was running away  
from what he should have dealt with a long time ago.  
  
Only Sora could make him realize something like that. Sora had that effect on people.  
  
Or did he only have that kind of effect on Riku?  
  
No matter, Sora began to speak again.  
  
"You still never promised."  
  
"Huh? Promised what?" Riku inquiried, forgetting that part of their earlier conversation.  
  
"That you would never leave me behind."  
  
There was silence. Riku didn't know how to answer that kind of thing. And he didn't want to make promises he may not   
be able to keep. He didn't want to hurt Sora, either. If he made the promise, he would push himself to the limit to  
fulfill it.  
  
But he realised that's what Sora had been doing for him the whole time. Pushing himself, onward and onward, until  
their was no more ground to cover. Then he would repeat.  
  
Finally, Riku decided he had to make it fair.  
  
"Riku?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Fine?"  
  
"All right, Sora. I promise."  
  
________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Sorry if it sucked. I've been having super-duper Writer's Block. It's sad. Yes? Yes. I am saddened by my lack of  
creativity. Aren't you? WRITER'S BLOCK SUCKS! Plus, I've been having this recent obsession with the J-Pop artist, Mai  
Kuraki. She is so cute! ^.^ (No, not in a lesbonic way. Lesbonic is not meant to be taken offensively. Actually, it  
doesn't matter, I'm bi anyway).  
  
Note to ZELPHIE. PLEASE, PLEASE, stop mentioning sex in your reviews. I'm only thirteen. There shall be no sex. My MOM  
reads the reviews, so it would mean a lot to me if you could stop having hentai thoughts in your reviews. If I offended  
you in any way, I apologise, but my mom is very strict.  
  
Swissy: Yo. Dudes, review. YEAH. Be sper-duper and review! Hell yeah! Say it with me! HELL YEAH! See, you can do it!  
And if you can't, I'll just have to twist a lollipop through your innards to MAKE you. HAH! Beat THAT!  
  
"Please note that 'dude' means an ingrown anal hair. Therefore, when I say, 'Hey dudes!' I'm actually saying 'Hello, my   
fellow ass hairs'!"  
  
~quote from Hieica forever ago. 


	4. Snatching the Paopu Fruit

Authoress' Notes: Hey sexies! How you been? Well, Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, it's Thanksgiving today, and I am proud to be  
a fanfic-ian. Kioko-san is so adorable! ^.~ Not to mention the hot Ciu Sune! ^.^ Go read their sexy fics.  
  
Sorry for the subliminal message, but I'm serious, if you're a Yu Yu Hakusho fan, Spirited Away fan, or Demon Diary fan.  
Their fics aren't all shounen ai, okay? Like, Ciu did a poem! ^.~ Go read. NOW!! Or after you finish reading my fic. Y'know.  
Or you can go and read their fics and then come back to mine!!  
  
Fine, I'll shut up now. Read on.  
  
-  
  
--  
  
---  
  
----  
  
-----  
  
Paopu Fruit  
  
Chapter Four  
  
-----  
  
----  
  
---  
  
--  
  
-  
  
The sun shone brightly, glaring through the hole atop the secret cave. Sora's cerulean eyes opened slowly and tiredly,  
and he sat up, flexing his stiff body. Shaking the dirt and dust out of his brown mophead, Sora yawned and stretched,  
then turned his head, taking in his surroundings. He vaguely recalled a warm, soothing embrace. Rubbing his eyes, he sat  
against the rocks that had been doodled on by Kairi and himself. He saw the paopu he once drew there, and fiercely scribbled  
it out, along with the profile of the once-sweet Kairi. Sora wondered if it was all just a cover-up, a mask to hide the  
inner disgustingness.  
  
With the memory of Kairi came to the remnants of his respect for his mother, which was when he realized what had happened   
last night.  
  
But...where was Riku?  
  
Sora stood up, dusted himself off again, and looked around the small cave, every crevace within the stone walls. Finding   
no sign of Riku, he began walking down the cave hall until he was engulfed by the bright, burning sun. It took a while for  
his eyes to adjust, but when they did, Sora snuck to the small dock. Riku's boat was still there, so he couldn't have left  
the island.  
  
"Psst! Sora!" He heard.  
  
Turning his head, searching, he could find no sign of Riku, or anyone, for that matter.  
  
"Under the dock!"  
  
"Oh!" Sora whispered and dove under the dock as Selphie walked by, eyes closed, humming a song that vaguely sounded like  
Simple & Clean(by Utada Hikaru ^.~).  
  
There, Riku sat in the cool sand, a bucket by his side, with two fish in it.  
  
Sora then realized how hungry he really was. His stomach growled loudly, though luckily nobody was around to hear. Blushing  
as Riku hissed a sharp "shh!", he quietly apologised.  
  
Crouching low, Sora and Riku cautiously ran to the spring, where Riku filled his canteen with water and they ran back into   
the cave. They were silent on the way in, which is how they were able to hear the voices inside.  
  
Riku cursed under his breath and heard voices coming from the far end behind them, just around the corner. He grabbed Sora's  
hand and ran silently to the opening of the cavern, where Kairi and Selphie sat crouching down, facing the picture that Sora   
scribbled out before.  
  
They ran behind a boulder as Wakka and Tidus came in.  
  
"Good, you're here. We have to decide what to do," a voice that was once sweet that made Riku and Sora once smile when they   
heard it spoke.  
  
"I think we shouldn't even bother," Selphie said. "Just let them go."  
  
"No," Kairi said. "I have a 'favor' to make up. Riku stole Sora away from me."  
  
"Whaddya mean?" Wakka asked.  
  
"Sora told me he loved Riku."  
  
There were gasps of shock. The only person who didn't gasp was Selphie, who shrugged. "So?"  
  
"So!? That means, not only is he gay, he's in love with an evil...THING!!" Kairi shouted.  
  
"Listen, Kairi, you need to calm down," Tidus said. "It's not that big a deal."  
  
Thank God Selphie and Tidus weren't corrupted.  
  
Sora wished his secret didn't have to be told like this. He buried his face in his hands because he didn't want to see   
Riku's face, twisted and warped with disgust.  
  
His hand was tugged, and he looked to see Riku, who signaled for him to be absolutely silent with a gloved finger to his  
lips. Sora simply nodded, confused, and obeyed. He peered over the rock, to see all of them facing the other way. Riku  
pulled him, and they tiptoed until they were out of the mouth of the cave. They ran to the dock and hopped into Riku's  
boat, each grabbing an oar as Riku released the tether that held them to the dock. They began to row with all the strength  
they had.  
  
They rowed to the outer island connected to the main by a wooden bridge.  
  
"Wait!" Riku said, and stood up.  
  
"What are you--?" Sora began to ask.  
  
Riku didn't wait for him to finish his sentence, and jumped up. when he landed, the boat shook violently, but fortuneately,  
didn't overturn.  
  
"What did you...?"  
  
Riku sat and showed Sora what was in his hand.  
  
"A paopu fruit!?"  
  
Riku smiled, and began to help Sora to row. When they were out of sight of the main land, Sora asked the one question on   
his mind.  
  
"Aren't you grossed out?"  
  
"About what?" Riku asked.  
  
"About...me, being...well..." Sora looked down, and probably would have twiddled his fingers had he not been rowing the  
boat.  
  
Riku laughed heartilly.  
  
"What's so funny!?" Sora asked angrilly. How could Riku do that? Laugh at him with his horrible predicament.  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"Then why are you laughing!?"  
  
"Because - because... your face! You looked so serious!!"  
  
"What's wrong with being serious!?"  
  
"You looked like me for a second there..."  
  
Sora waved his hand. "Is my head silver? Are my eyes radio-active? No."  
  
Riku nodded, with a smile still on his face.  
  
"Well?" Sora asked firmly.  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Are you grossed out?" Sora asked aggravated.  
  
"Of course not, Sora. I'll accept you as you are. Gay or straight."  
  
Sora sighed in relief.  
  
"What, you thought I would be disgusted?"  
  
The brunette nodded.  
  
"No way! I've done far more disgusting things than being homosexual."  
  
"I can't believe I ever doubted you, Riku."  
  
"Yeah, me too. Besides, I do have a promise to keep, right?"  
  
Sora nodded, remembering the oath he forced Riku to make.  
  
"I'll make another promise to ensure that I keep that one, right?"  
  
"You better!" Sora said, joking around with Riku.  
  
"Sora, we have to find one of those transportation points(or, as us gamers know it, the save point). Anywhere would be   
better than here."  
  
"You do realize we are running away."  
  
Riku smiled. "I realized that sometimes it's better to run away."  
  
"Rather than meeting the darkness head on?"  
  
Riku nodded.  
  
"Hey, Riku. Why did you grab that paopu fruit?"  
  
His only response was a smile.  
  
____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Hieica: Hm? What do you, my faithful reviewers, think?  
  
I want to know how long I should make this. Really, I have a last line prepared and everything. But I do want to have over   
100 reviews. HEAR THAT, PEOPLE? THAT IS OUR GOAL!! Review as much as you can, please~ You are the ones encouraging me to go   
on. The more reviews I have, the faster I update/the better the chapters get. So, this is our goal. Ai shiteru! ^.~  
  
Swissy: Review. You'd better do it. I'm watching you, dammit!! I'll impale you with a paopu fruit if you don't review!! I'll  
do it!! *wields a paopu fruit* YEAH, that's what I thought!! 


End file.
